South county
commissioner election decided
in primary
By TRAVIS
PURSER
Express Staff Writer
Candidates
for the general election in November face their first round of voter
decision-making next week during the 2002 primary election Tuesday.
Dennis
Wright
The primary
selects one party candidate to run for each seat in November.
Two seats
are contested in Blaine County government. James Super challenges
incumbent Dennis Wright for south county commissioner. Walter Cochran
challenges incumbent Valdi Pace for county assessor.
Super and
Wright, both Democrats, have been making their final campaign pushes
leading up to the May 28 primary. Their race will be decided then.
For Pace, a
Democrat, and Cochran, a Republican, however, the primary means less,
because they are each assured a place on the November ballot. So far, the
two have been doing little to campaign.
Jim
Super
Both Wright
and Super stress the importance of preserving agricultural land and other
open space by concentrating development in and around cities.
Both
candidates say they support efforts to create a regional public
transportation system.
Both stress
fiscal responsibility, but have different ideas about what that means.
Super said the county government needs an administrator to handle the
commission’s bureaucratic duties and allow commissioners to spend more
time addressing policy and the concerns of constituents.
Wright,
however, said he doesn’t perceive a need for an administrator, which the
county doesn’t currently have. Commissioners should remain involved with
the bureaucracy so they can understand policy, he said.
Valdi
Pace
Wright
previously served on the Bellevue City Council. He said that this is the
last time he will seek re-election.
Super moved
to Blaine County in 1997 from Emmett, where he served for six years on the
city council.
Four other
incumbents in county offices are running unopposed. They include
mid-county commissioner Mary Ann Mix, a Democrat; county clerk Marsha
Reimann, a Democrat; treasurer Vicki Dick, a Republican; and county
coroner Russ Mikel, a Republican.
During the
primary, voters must choose either all Democratic or all Republican
candidates. In races for state and federal offices there are also
Libertarian candidates.
Walter
Cochran
However,
voters throughout the entire county will be able to cast ballots for
either Wright or Super, even though they are running for the south county
commission seat.
Unregistered
voters may register at polling places during the election with a photo
identification and proof of address, such as a utility bill.
Polling
places will be open from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
The armory
in Hailey is no longer a polling place. Hailey residents must vote either
at the Hailey Grange Hall at 603 Third Ave. South or at the Hailey
Elementary School gym, depending on where in Hailey they live.
A list of
all polling places can be found on Page A22 of the May 22, 2002 edition of
the Idaho Mountain Express.
Also, a
list of all polling places, as well as other detailed information about
the election is available at www.co.blaine.id.us/elections.htm.
Or call the county clerk’s office at 788-5505.
Applications
for absentee ballots are available online or at the clerk’s office.